EUGENE – After tying its record for most wins in an opening tournament, the University of Oregon softball team (5-1) matched its preseason position in both national rankings released Tuesday.

Ranked 14th nationally in both the NFCA and USA Softball editions, the Ducks were the fifth-highest ranked Pac-10 team. Two others ranked top 20, and the other league program received a vote in the polls.

Complete NFCA and USA Softball preseason polls are available at the http://nfca.org/top25/index.php?cat_id=1 and http://www.usasoftball.com/news.asp?uid=5398 URL addresses.

The Ducks boast their highest rankings since 2007, and have now been ranked for 14 straight editions by USA Softball and nine straight polls by the NFCA.

Last weekend in the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz., UO’s 5-1 record included victories over two then-top-20 foes - No. 16 BYU (3-2) and No. 19 Texas A&M (5-0). Oregon also topped Ole Miss (4-1), North Texas (12-4) and Nevada (10-0), and lost only to Cal State Fullerton (4-3) in eight innings.

This week, the Ducks head to Las Vegas for five games in the Louisville Slugger Classic, and open against Utah (3-2) on Friday at 9 a.m. PT. Last weekend, the Utes beat then-No. 10 ASU, 3-1, and also topped Ole Miss and Western Michigan and lost to No. 2 Arizona and Oklahoma State.

UO’s other foes this weekend include Nevada (1-4) on Friday, No. 9 Hawai’i (5-0) and Arkansas (3-2) on Saturday, and Boise State (1-3) on Sunday.

More tourney information is available at the www.UNLVrebels.com website at the http://www.unlvrebels.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/11-slugger-desert-classic.html URL address.